Another Code: Recollection Review — Memories Revisited

In this stunning collection, both Another Code titles (Two Memories and Journey Into Lost Memories) have received the enhancement treatment which includes improvements to the visuals, 3D environments that you can explore (to an extent), brand new voice acting, and the addition of new puzzles as well. What’s extra special about Another Code: Recollection is that it has made the second installment, Journey Into Lost Memories, available to players outside of Japan and Europe which is where the original Wii version was only available back in 2009.

I’ll preface this review by saying I never had the opportunity to play the original games on DS and Wii back in the day, therefore I am unable to compare these enhanced versions to the originals.

So, let’s start with my overall first impressions of Another Code: Recollection as a whole, shall we?

Once I booted up the game, I fell in love with the visuals. It’s got one of the most beautiful art styles I’ve seen in a while – big Ghibli vibes if I had to label it. Pair this with a delightfully gentle soundtrack, and you have a winner for me. It ran smoothly, both while my Switch was docked or handheld, although load times going between different areas or into buildings were a little too long for my liking and did dampen the experience for me. However, our protagonist, Ashley, made it easy to see past all of these very minor flaws with her loveable personality (for most of the time).

Both games have the exact same gameplay style – mostly point and click, moderate puzzles and are basically visual novels – so if you’re after something action packed, these are not the games for you. However, cosy gamers and fans of Life Is Strange would eat these games up!

The games do carry some rather heavy themes (mental health, trauma, parent loss), so I would recommend looking up some potential triggers. This is actually why it took me as long as it did to get through the games in order to review them, as I am quite the sensitive soul at the moment.

Alright, let’s get into each of the games specifically.

Part 1: Two Memories

Straight off the bat, you are met with more teenage angst than when you walked past the emo kids at lunchtime in 2007, which I guess is fair, Ashley’s in the midst of an identity crisis and is just starting to uncover the truth about the fate of her parents. Not to mention, she’s getting dragged to an island in the middle of nowhere on her 14th birthday, so I’d be angsty, too.

Moments into the game you come to learn that the story isn’t entirely linear – not only do you follow Ashley’s personal quest to uncover answers about her past, but you also bump into a friendly ghost (no, not Casper). This chap’s name is D and he is a darling. So, while you’re trying to piece together the clues about Ashley’s family, you also help D make sense of his memories. This sounds like it has the potential to make for quite the messy storyline but it was the complete opposite and they complimented each other quite well.

Along the way, you’ll encounter many puzzles, all varying in difficulty but none that will completely turn your brain to mush. Trust me, if I can work them out, you’ll be fine! They ranged from finding bits of stuff to use as bridges to deciphering codes for locks, and some even incorporated motion controls, which was a very cool feature, I thought!

The story became quite intense and action-packed by the end and there were moments that got me right in the feels. I was able to complete the story in 5.5 hours, so it’s one you could easily knock over in an afternoon if you wanted to.

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Part 2: Journey Into Lost Memories

The second installment takes place exactly two years from where the first ended, on Ashley’s 16th birthday – and the angst is just as present, if not stronger. She wasn’t anywhere as loveable in this one as the first. In fact, she came across as quite bratty and very much ruined the whole experience for me. It’s one thing to have an annoying sidekick in a game, but when it’s the protagonist, it ruins the experience for me.

Alterations were made to the original story for this one to make it more streamlined to the first title, however, this still didn’t help the story at all. Once again, players are confronted with multiple storylines that intertwine but in Journey Into Lost Memories, it was messy and more of an inconvenience I felt. It also seemed like some characters were merely forgotten about halfway through and reintroduced later in the story as an afterthought, which was incredibly disappointing.

Story and gameplay-wise, the second is very similar to the first, although not as puzzle-heavy. Yes, there are puzzles, but they require very little thought and really just require players to enter a sequence of button inputs to unlock doors. The dialogue in this one also seemed quite “childish”, even with the adults—think early 2000s teen movie kind of vibes, which I also found off-putting during the heavier scenes.

Visually, Journey Into Lost Memories is just as stunning, if not more than Two Memories, and everything is much more crisp but everything else sadly missed the mark for me.

It took me 9 hours to get through the story of this one, and I think I missed out on a lot of extra content towards the end because I just wanted to be done with it. It hurts me to say because I really and truly wanted to love this one as much as the first. Again, check the trigger warnings for this one. Mental health and parental issues play a big part in this one, too.

In saying that, I adored the mysterious character, Ryan Gray. His storyline certainly carried this game, in my very humble opinion. All in all, Journey Into Lost Memories wasn’t a complete dud. It certainly had its moments. It just was nowhere near as good as Two Memories.

Overall, these certainly aren’t games for everyone. As previously mentioned, I think fans of games like Life Is Strange and even Detroit: Become Human would enjoy both of these titles. Just brace yourself and your knees when you get to the floppy disk scene in Journey Into Lost Memories.

But what did blow me away with both games was how “memory” is portrayed. It’s almost as if Memory becomes a character in itself, and it was the coolest concept I’ve seen in a video game in a while.

Another Code: Recollection has two very solid enhanced games. I just wish I could have loved both of them equally. If you’re curious, maybe wait for a sale or check out the demo first. I don’t think these games are for everyone.